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Tycho

I’m not sure what this shit is meant to accomplish, Apple, aside from pissing me off.

The Mac users I know don’t like the Switch campaign any more than I do.  And, I’ve got to be honest with you, I didn’t know this kind of crap was still going on - indeed, I thought it was over.  I thought that the front in the techno-cultural war had progressed to moving between Windows and Linux, God knows I must endure hearing about it, and that human beings by and large simply purchased a PC or a Macintosh based on personal preference or prior experience or whatever else.  Anything aside from the implied difference between what a “real” or “smart” person would do, which has been Apple’s motif for as long as I can remember.  I don’t find the neurotic caricatures selected for these ads compelling in the least, they’re not realer, they’re people I want to avoid at all costs, examining my own life to systematically eradicate any similarities I might find between us.  They are avatars of a corporation, not some kind of social movement, inheriting at full volume the smug superiority that Windows users seek to return in kind. 

Everyone who has ever brushed up against this issue is well acquainted with the major arguments for each side, but I’m simply not fascinated with the prospect of investigating it here.  I think it’s boring.  I’d imagine most people just think it’s boring.  And if people on both platforms can play Warcraft III native, well, what the fuck are we talking about this for?  Mac gamers are no longer martyrs, and it’s actually possible to enjoy using Windows anymore.  The whole thing is stupid.  If Apple really wanted to sell more Macs, they should just show people how it looks when you minimize shit in OS X.  I thought I was going to pee my pants. 

It ought to be a hell of a weekend on the gaming front, which now strikes me as a particularly apt descriptor, given the things I am about to announce:  The acclaimed Day of Defeat mod for Half-Life just hit version 3.0, and rooka very nice.  Also, though it’s not up as of yet, I see that they plan to release the new Army Game files today, three days in advance of when they were supposed to, which pleases me to no end.  I’ll actually be at the Ministry of Peace LAN party for most of the next two days, a fact which is delicious to me.  It’ll give me a chance to flex this Unreal Tournament 2003 shit I didn’t download off of the web somewhere.  I’ll be showing off my precious Moonbase Commander.  Also, Porkfry has assured me that - as last time - he will have a ready supply of scrumptious XTZ Herbal Energy Whatevers that I eat about fifteen at a time.  Along with the Turbo Truffles, which taste like complete shit, I was up until four-thirty in the morning before could feel the passage of time.  Huzzah!

I was going to talk about Unlimited SaGa, but I’m going to let Gabe talk about Unlimited SaGa.  His malfunctioning Wacom still vexes him, and I’m sure he needs something to pass the time.  He wrote in to Wacom Central or wherever they make these things, asking if he could “try” one their eighteen-inch Cintiq writable displays, which is rather like writing the Vatican and asking if they have an extra Jesus.  I doubt his request will be met with success.

And yes, I play DDR pretty much every day now, Chasing Cuties and Looking At The Sky.  It’s who I am.  Who would have thought moving could be so rewarding!

(CW)TB out.

and there’s never no answer

Kara

NO LOVE AND HATE

NO LOVE AND HATE

NO LOVE AND HATE

Gabe

If you haven’t already done so I would highly recommend that you check out the news story regarding Unlimited Saga over at the Madman’s café. Scroll down to the story from 7/10/02. Here is a quote from the story:

“The graphics in U:Saga are neither pixel art or 3D polygon style, but are illustration style graphics with motion, using technology from Adobe Systems Co. This will also be the first time the series will have movie clips used in the game.”

I have stared at the images in that article for two days now, trying to wrap my head around the fact that they are actually in game shots. If those really are in game and they aren’t pixels or polygons what could they possibly be? My best guess is that they are some form of vector art, but they don’t look like any vector art I’ve ever seen. They look like paintings for God’s sake. What I want more than anything right now is to see some video of this game in motion. Ever since I saw the movie What Dreams May Come I have had this fantasy of a game that allowed you to move around inside a painting in three dimensions. I don’t know if U:Saga will be that game or if that is even what this technology is designed to do. If it is though, not only will I be one happy mother fucking camper but they will have kicked open a door to a whole new way of making videogames.

I have been playing a lot of Warcraft 3 over the past couple days. I have never been very good at these kinds of games and it’s always been very frustrating. I generally only play against the computer because whenever I venture on to Battle.net I get my ass handed to me. All my wins except for two are because the other guy left right away. It’s not even that I’m beaten, it’s that I am totally fucking destroyed. It’s like I’m playing a different fucking game. One guy even beat me without actually using any troops. He found out where I was right away and spent all his money building Orc arrow towers all around the entrance to my little camp. He just kept building them closer and closer, row after row until the front line of them was finally firing on my Tree of Life and other ancients. He never even made a goddamned troop! I want desperately to be good at this game because I love it so much, but every time I get on Battle.net I just end up discouraged. The system is supposed to match me up with someone of similar skill, but every time I use it I feel like the short bus accidentally let me off at the big kid’s school. I love the game but it’s being played at a level on Battle.net that I am simply not equipped for. So I need your help. I know that some of you guys out there reading this are great players. Hell some of you guys reading this made the fucking game. All I am asking is that you check out this topic in the forum and post some of your tips or strategies. I am particularly interested in anything that will help me with my chosen race the Night Elves. It’s not just for me though, I think it will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in the game.

I have been getting a lot of mail about Club PA this month. It really is my fault though I should have made it more clear that the extra cartoons would come at the end of the month. I am just gonna answer all the questions here to save some time. Yes you will get two extra comic strips this month. No they are not ready yet. Yes I will send them to you as soon as they are done. No you can not come to Kara’s birthday party. I think that pretty much covers it.

-Gabe out

Gabe

More news on the next Necrowombicon straight from Fatrick himself:

I am now accepting registration for people to run games.
there are 4 slots for running games

9am-12pm 12pm-4pm 4pm-8pm 8pm-12am

those are the available slots for running/playing games e-mail me at thenecrowombicon@hotmail.com about the games you want to run. with the slot, your name, the game you’re playing, the slot you want to run it in, and how many people you want to play in your game.

so, if you want to organize a game of D&D, you pick a slot and you send me a mail saying: Joe Bob, D&D 3rd edition, 9am-12pm, 6 people

that’s all I need to know once that’s all set up , then I’ll post a page with all the games that are available and people will be able to book the slots for them

then you send me e-mail to register them in much the same way.

send me a mail with the slot your game is in, the name of the game, and the person running the game.

ie: Jane Doe, D&D 3rd with Joe Bob, 9am-12pm

then I’ll stick you into ‘THE GAMES LIST’ and we’re off to the races.

LAN games and Video games are exempt from this registration, unless say you want to run a tournament of some kind. If so, set up a registration mail much the same way, and I’ll get that all posted. Keep in mind, we only have 2 TV’s for the Convention hall, so we might not be able to have a ‘Halo’ tournament, and a Super Smash Brothers tournament, and a Gran Turismo 3 tournament, all at the same time.

any questions can be directed to thenecrowombicon@hotmail.com for clairification or go to the forum on the PACult page: http://pub20.ezboard.com/fpennyarcadecultfrm4 also, check out the official page at: http://www.pacult.com/nwc2.php

Tycho

The main issue that I always have is that my brade routinely seeks vengeance.  I don’t know if this is just my brade, or it’s a problem with brades in general, but I do think that I might do better if it sought something else every once in a while.

(CW)TB

Gabe

I don’t know anything about vengeance but I know my brade thirsts quite a bit. It’s never really clear on what exactly it’s thirsting for but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the thirstiest brade I’ve ever seen. I’m talking, deep down body thirst.

-Gabe out

Gabe

Bullshit!

I got lots of great tips for playing Night Elves and I appreciate that. I have been practicing day and night and I am getting much better I think. I felt like I had some cool new skills so I went on to Battle.net to test them out. It was the best game I had ever played. I did some really cool shit and at the end the guy I am playing says to me, “You want me to crash the game? It’s really easy.” I of course said no. He says” But I am dead anyway.” I say “Then just quit, but don’t crash it.” So what does he do? He crashes the goddamned game. Not only does it not count as a win for me, I can’t save the fucking replay. I have said it before and I will say it again. The worst part about multiplayer games is that you have to play them with other people.

-Gabe out.

Batjew

People are FANTASTIC!!!

Gabe

You forget that I have actually spent time with you Batjew and I know for a fact that you hate people even more than I do.

Ever since I posted a link to my less than stellar standing on the Warcraft 3 ladder I have had people messaging me while I am playing. I don’t want you guys to think I am rude when I don’t reply. The truth is I honestly don’t know how to answer you when you do that. Also, I am not very smart and it takes every single ounce of concentration I can muster to play this game. So often times I see that there is a message there but trying to read it while micromanaging my tiny elven army would no doubt break my fragile brain. So instead of reading it I just build another ancient of war.

If you didn’t see it already go see Road to Perdition. I predict that they will have to start inventing new awards just for this movie to win.

-Gabe out